Enhanced suppression of residual water in a "270" WET sequence

In certain water suppression experiments, the residual water, which comes from a region away from the center of the RF coil and experiences a much smaller flip angle than the designed one, may appear. The residual water in the WET sequence can be reduced significantly by using a composite 90(x)( degrees )90(y)( degrees )90(-x)( degrees )90(-y)( degrees ) pulse, which de-excites molecules experiencing a small flip angle. The composite pulse, however, has two null excitation points near on resonance, causing a severe loss of spectrum intensity and baseline distortion toward the null points. Since the residual water experiences a very small flip angle, it can be treated as a linear spin system; i.e., the intensity of the residual water is proportional to the pulse strength and width. Based on this principle, the residual water can be reduced dramatically by replacing the 90 degrees pulse in the "270" WET sequence with a 270 degrees pulse for one out of every four scans, without noticeable loss of intensity and baseline distortion.     

优化重聚脉冲提高梯度场核磁共振信号强度

缩短射频脉冲宽度, 有助于解决脉冲电力消耗大、样品吸收率高、信噪比低等极端条件核磁共振探测的关键问题. 本文首先分析射频脉冲角度对核磁共振自旋回波信号强度的影响机理, 基于Bloch方程推导了回波信号幅度与扳转角、重聚角的关系. 在特制核磁共振分析仪上采用变脉冲角度技术, 分别在均匀磁场和梯度磁场条件下实现对扳转角和重聚角与回波信号强度关系的数值模拟和实验测量. 结果表明, 梯度场中, 扳转角为90°、重聚角为140°的射频脉冲组合获得最大首波信号强度, 比180°脉冲对应的回波幅值提高13%, 能耗降低至78%. 选用该重聚角(140°) 优化设计饱和恢复脉冲序列探测流体的纵向弛豫时间T₁特性, 准确获得 T₁分布.该结果对于低电力供应、且对信噪比有较高要求的核磁共振测量, 如随钻核磁共振测井和在线核磁共振快速检测等, 具有重要意义. 关键词： 核磁共振 信号强度 重聚脉冲角度 Bloch方程     

在反转恢复测试中磁化矢量的演化特征:辐射阻尼效应

在强辐射阻尼存在下,水样(90% H₂O in D₂O)的反转恢复实验表明:当两脉冲的相位相差180°且反转脉冲角<180°时,或两脉冲相位一致但反转脉冲角>180°时,在检测期观测到的信号强度将不发生从负极大值到正极大值的突变;在同样的条件下,如果存在频率偏置,信号强度存在波动,即beating效应.只有当两脉冲的相位一致而反转脉冲角<180°时,或两脉冲的相位相差180°但反转脉冲角>180°时,在检测期信号强度才发生突变,即jumping效应.这些现象都可通过辐射阻尼理论予以合理地解释.另外,在检测期当磁化矢量运动到-z轴附近(对应于τ=T_rdln{tan[(π±δ)/2]}),信号强度与理论预计的偏差实际上与T₁弛豫效应有关.     

SOGGY: solvent-optimized double gradient spectroscopy for water suppression. A comparison with some existing techniques

Excitation sculpting, a general method to suppress unwanted magnetization while controlling the phase of the retained signal [T.L. Hwang, A.J. Shaka, Water suppression that works. Excitation sculpting using arbitrary waveforms and pulsed field gradients, J. Magn. Reson. Ser. A 112 (1995) 275-279] is a highly effective method of water suppression for both biological and small molecule NMR spectroscopy. In excitation sculpting, a double pulsed field gradient spin echo forms the core of the sequence and pairing a low-power soft 180 degrees (-x) pulse with a high-power 180 degrees (x) all resonances except the water are flipped and retained, while the water peak is attenuated. By replacing the hard 180 degrees pulse in the double echo with a new phase-alternating composite pulse, broadband and adjustable excitation of large bandwidths with simultaneous high water suppression is obtained. This "Solvent-Optimized Gradient-Gradient Spectroscopy" (SOGGY) sequence is a reliable workhorse method for a wide range of practical situations in NMR spectroscopy, optimizing both solute sensitivity and water suppression.     

Artifacts in T(1rho)-weighted imaging: correction with a self-compensating spin-locking pulse

Significant artifacts arise in T(1rho)-weighted imaging when nutation angles suffer small deviations from their expected values. These artifacts vary with spin-locking time and amplitude, severely limiting attempts to perform quantitative imaging or measurement of T(1rho) relaxation times. A theoretical model explaining the origin of these artifacts is presented in the context of a T(1rho)-prepared fast spin-echo imaging sequence. Experimentally obtained artifacts are compared to those predicted by theory and related to B(1) inhomogeneity. Finally, a "self-compensating" spin-locking preparatory pulse cluster is presented, in which the second half of the spin-locking pulse is phase-shifted by 180 degrees. Use of this pulse sequence maintains relatively uniform signal intensity despite large variations in flip angle, greatly reducing artifacts in T(1rho)-weighted imaging.     

Large angle spin-echo imaging

A study was undertaken to assess the use of excitation flip angles greater than 90° for T₁ weighted spin-echo (SE) imaging with a single 180° refocusing pulse and short TR values. Theoretical predictions of signal intensity for SE images with excitation pulse angles of 90–180° were calculated based on the Bloch equations and then measured experimentally from MR images of MnCl₂ phantoms of various concentrations. Liver signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) and liver-spleen contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) were measured from breathhold MR images of the upper abdomen in 16 patients using 90 and 110° excitation flip angles. The theoretical predictions showed significant improvements in SNR with excitation flip angles >90°, which were more pronounced at small TR values. The phantom studies showed reasonably good agreement with the theoretical predictions in correlating the excitation pulse angle with signal intensity. In the human imaging studies, the 110° excitation pulse angle resulted in a 7.4% (p < .01) increase in liver SNR and an 8.2% (p = .2) increase in liver-spleen CNR compared to the 90° pulse angle at TR = 275 ms. Increased signal intensity resulting from the use of large flip angle excitation pulses with a single echo SE pulse sequence was predicted and confirmed experimentally in phantoms and humans.     

Signal enhancement using 45 degrees water flipback for 3D 15N-edited ROESY and NOESY HMQC and HSQC.

A novel implementation of the water flipback technique employing a 45 degrees flip-angle water-selective pulse is presented. The use of this water flipback technique is shown to significantly enhance signal in 3D 15N-edited ROESY in a 20 kDa complex of the vnd/NK-2 homeodomain bound to DNA. The enhancement is seen relative to the same experiment using weak water presaturation during the recovery delay. This enhancement is observed for the signals from both labile and nonlabile protons. ROESY and NOESY pulse sequences with 45 degrees water flipback are presented using both HMQC and HSQC for the 15N dimension. The 45 degrees flipback pulse is followed by a gradient, a water selective 180 degrees pulse, and another gradient to remove quadrature images and crosspeak phase distortion near the water frequency. Radiation damping of the water magnetization during the t1 and t2 evolution periods is suppressed using gradients. Water resonance planes from NOESY-HMQC and NOESY-HSQC spectra show that the HMQC version of the pulse sequences can provide stronger signal for very fast exchanging protons. The HSQC versions of the ROESY and NOESY pulse sequences are designed for the quantitative determination of protein-water crossrelaxation rates, with no water-selective pulses during the mixing time and with phase cycling and other measures for reducing axial artifacts in the water signal.     

Signal Enhancement Using 45° Water Flipback for 3D N-Edited ROESY and NOESY HMQC and HSQC

A novel implementation of the water flipback technique employing a 45° flip-angle water-selective pulse is presented. The use of this water flipback technique is shown to significantly enhance signal in 3D ¹⁵N-edited ROESY in a 20 kDa complex of the vnd/NK-2 homeodomain bound to DNA. The enhancement is seen relative to the same experiment using weak water presaturation during the recovery delay. This enhancement is observed for the signals from both labile and nonlabile protons. ROESY and NOESY pulse sequences with 45° water flipback are presented using both HMQC and HSQC for the ¹⁵N dimension. The 45° flipback pulse is followed by a gradient, a water selective 180° pulse, and another gradient to remove quadrature images and crosspeak phase distortion near the water frequency. Radiation damping of the water magnetization during the t₁ and t₂ evolution periods is suppressed using gradients. Water resonance planes from NOESY–HMQC and NOESY–HSQC spectra show that the HMQC version of the pulse sequences can provide stronger signal for very fast exchanging protons. The HSQC versions of the ROESY and NOESY pulse sequences are designed for the quantitative determination of protein–water crossrelaxation rates, with no water-selective pulses during the mixing time and with phase cycling and other measures for reducing axial artifacts in the water signal.     

噪音信号对夜间对流层臭氧探测准确度的影响

本文探讨在背景噪音影响下,差分吸收激光雷达测量臭氧的不确定性:背景噪音对臭氧浓度廓线的影响正比于背景噪音强度、强吸收波长和弱吸收波长的回波信号强度比.理论计算结果表明:合适的回波信号强度比可以使激光雷达背景信号对夜间臭氧探测浓度的影响变得非常小,可以忽略不计.实验结果表明:用波长对(280 nm,285 nm)对大气臭氧进行观测时,适当调节两波长回波信号强度比为0.96时,背景信号对臭氧浓度探测的影响小到可以忽略的程度.模拟分析和实验观测结果相接近,证实了理论推算的合理性.在背景噪音强度未知的情况下,通过调整强吸收和弱吸收两波长的激光脉冲的能量,在示波器上得到适合的回波信号强度比值,可以抑制背景噪音信号对臭氧探测结果的影响,确保夜间臭氧测量的准确性.     

“FLIPSY”—A New Solvent-Suppression Sequence for Nonexchanging Solutes Offering Improved Integral Accuracy Relative to 1D NOESY

A new method of solvent suppression is described, based on presaturation in combination with volume selection; the name “FLIPSY” is proposed for this sequence. A low-flip-angle pulse is used for excitation, immediately followed by two 180° pulses, each of which is independently phase cycled through Exorcycle. The phase-cycled inversion pulses achieve volume selection in a way similar to the widely used 1D NOESY sequence, thereby largely eliminating any residual “hump” signal from the solvent. The two 180° pulses combine to produce a net 360° rotation forzmagnetization and either a 180° or a 360° rotation for transverse magnetization, depending on the step in the phase cycle. This allows the overall flip angle of the sequence to be controlled by adjusting the length of the initial excitation pulse. It is demonstrated that this property allows one to choose freely a suitable compromise between signal strength and integral accuracy when using FLIPSY, just as when using single-pulse excitation. Such a choice cannot be made when using 1D NOESY, since the effective flip angle in that experiment is always 90°. The application of FLIPSY to recording LC-NMR spectra is demonstrated.     

高触发信号和功率合成的高峰值功率皮秒脉冲源

对于目标的攻击、干扰和探测,超宽带时域脉冲源的幅值直接影响其攻击、干扰和探测的强度和效果。基于雪崩晶体管的Marx电路被广泛应用在产生此类信号源上,传统的Marx电路可以一定程度上提高输出电压的幅值,但由于雪崩晶体管功率容量较低等原因,雪崩晶体管的Marx电路输出电压幅度会随级数增加而达到饱和。针对此类问题,为了产生更高幅值的脉冲信号,综合采用提高触发信号和使用宽带功率合成器的手段。最终利用26级Marx电路作为触发信号,4路40级Marx电路进行功率合成的方法,实现了输出电压幅值为8.7 kV、上升沿约为180 ps的技术指标,并通过机理分析了高触发信号对雪崩晶体管Marx电路的影响,通过实验得到了印证。     

Magnetization recovery for signal enhancement: a fast imaging DEFT-based technique

This paper describes the development and application of a new fast MRI technique based on the DEFT principle. The sequence named MAgnetization RecoverY for Signal Enhancement (MARYSE) is composed of two completely symmetric gradient echoes separated by a 180 degrees refocusing pulse. The RF pulse scheme, 90 degrees x-180 degrees y-90 degrees -x enables restoration of the transverse magnetization along the longitudinal axis, and consequently artificially increases R1 relaxation rate. In this sequence, the period between the excitation pulse and the restoring pulse (Tem: transverse magnetization evolution time) is very short (< 10 ms). This makes possible a significant increase in signal-to-noise ratio, even with a relatively short repetition time (20 ms). Simulations were performed for different values of Tem and TR at definite T1 and T2 and for different values of T1 and T2 at constant Tem and TR. Relevant signal enhancement for species with long relaxation time constants as compared to classical gradient echo and fast spin-echo imaging was expected. In vitro studies on a fat/water phantom confirmed this simulation. Application of MARYSE to mouse brain imaging permitted to visualize almost completely cerebrospinal fluid of the ventricles, a signal usually partially saturated in fast gradient echo imaging.     

Methylene spectral editing in solid-state 13C NMR by three-spin coherence selection

A robust new solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) method for selecting CH2 signals in magic-angle spinning (MAS) 13C NMR spectra is presented. Heteronuclear dipolar evolution for a duration of 0.043 ms, under MREV-8 homonuclear proton decoupling, converts 13C magnetization of CH2 groups into two- and three-spin coherences. The CH2 selection in the SIJ (C H H) spin system is based on the three-spin coherence S(x)I(z)J(z), which is distinguished from 13C magnetization (S(x)) by a 1H 0 degrees/90 degrees pulse consisting of two 45 degrees pulses. The two-spin coherences of the type S(y)I(z) are removed by a 13C 90 degrees x-pulse. The three-spin coherence is reconverted into magnetization during the remainder of the rotation period, still under MREV-8 decoupling. The required elimination of 13C chemical-shift precession is achieved by a prefocusing 180 degrees pulse bracketed by two rotation periods. The selection of the desired three-spin coherence has an efficiency of 13% theoretically and of 8% experimentally relative to the standard CP/MAS spectrum. However, long-range couplings also produce some three-spin coherences of methine (CH) carbons. Therefore, the length of the 13C pulse flipping the two-spin coherences is increased by 12% to slightly invert the CH signals arising from two-spin coherences and thus cancel the signal from long-range three-spin coherences. The signal intensity in this cleaner spectrum is 6% relative to the regular CP/TOSS spectrum. The only residual signal is from methyl groups, which are suppressed at least sixfold relative to the CH2 peaks. The experiment is demonstrated on cholesteryl acetate and applied to two humic acids.     

光参量啁啾脉冲放大的逆问题

针对光参量啁啾脉冲放大的逆问题,即如何在给定输出信号光脉冲波形的前提下,通过计算得到输入信号光脉冲波形,提出了相应的计算模型和方法.以分步傅里叶变换和四阶龙格-库塔法为基础,通过数值拟合等方法,建立了输入-输出信号光强之间的定量关系.分别以预期输出信号光脉冲为啁啾高斯脉冲以及具有特定形状的整形脉冲为例,通过逆算得到了相应的输入信号光脉冲波形.研究结果表明,该逆算方法具有原理简单、计算快速准确等优点,可为激光脉冲整形设计提供参考. 关键词： 光参量啁啾脉冲放大 逆问题 啁啾脉冲 脉冲整形     

Photoacoustic and evaporation pressure signals in water irradiated with erbium laser pulses

Pressure signals in water exposed to erbium laser pulses with a duration of 200 ns, a wavelength of 2.94 μm, and an intensity modulated with a period of ∼ 5 ns due to mode beats were studied. It was found that the amplitude of the high-frequency component of the pressure signal, caused by this modulation, reproduces the behavior of the smooth component of the laser pulse shape at low irradiation intensities. As the intensity increases, behavior of the high-frequency signal amplitude is more complicated, showing significant decrease at certain instants of laser pulse exposures. Such behavior can be caused by the simultaneous effect of photoacoustic and evaporation mechanisms of pressure generation in irradiated liquid.     

激光脉冲宽度对远距离尾流气泡后向检测的影响

为了分析激光脉冲宽度对远距离尾流气泡后向检测的影响,基于Fournier Forand体积散射函数,通过Monte Carlo方法建立了水中激光脉冲后向散射信号时域特征的分析模型.利用该模型研究了初始激光脉冲宽度不同时,水中远距离舰船尾流气泡的激光脉冲后向散射信号变化情况.结果表明:随着初始激光脉冲宽度的增加,后向散射信号中水体散射信号与尾流气泡回波信号的轮廓变得模糊|当脉冲宽度增大到一定程度时,无法从后向散射信号中辨别出回波信号|并且,随着尾流区气泡散射强度的减小以及气泡区与检测器之间距离的减短,这种变化趋势变得更加明显.基于仿真结果,提出一种基于逆卷积运算的尾流气泡回波信号提取方法.     

在体检测γ-氨基丁酸的MEGA-PRESS序列优化设计

γ-氨基丁酸（γ-aminobutyric acid,GABA）含量异常会引发一系列大脑疾病,因此在体检测人脑GABA含量成为一种十分必要的医疗技术.本文基于GABA检测常用的谱编辑方法MEGA-PRESS,引入性能更好的SLR脉冲代替常用的高斯脉冲,并使用单频带和双频带结合的方法激发特定频率的物质,在联影（United Imaging Healthcare,UIH）的uMR780磁共振系统上实现了一种优化的MEGA-PRESS序列.结果表明：SLR脉冲可以减少大分子（macromolecule,MM）信号对GABA信号的干扰;单频带和双频带结合可以更好地抑制残余水信号对GABA^*信号的影响.水模实验和人体实验结果均证实优化的MEGA-PRESS序列可以更好地实现GABA^*含量在体检测.     

海洋信道随机性引起的船舶噪声线谱衰减

阐述准周期性随机声脉冲序列作为船舶噪声模型的普适性,侧重讨论船舶噪声准周期性随机声脉冲序列所产生的线谱经随机海洋信道传输后的变化。指出在大多数工况下,船舶噪声并不是以几种不同频率的加性正弦波直接叠加在宽带连续谱噪声上,而是一类本身并不含有任何有限强度加性正弦波分量的信号。研究结果表明:海洋信道多途效应引起船舶噪声脉冲序列信号时域上时延扩展;海洋信道的随机性使船舶噪声随机声脉冲序列信号准周期性下降,导致船舶噪声线谱相对幅度“额外”快速衰减,对于存在大范围不均匀水团的海洋信道,50 km传播距离上其介质随机起伏引起的船舶噪声线谱“额外”衰减最高可达11 dB。海洋信道随机性引起的船舶噪声线谱衰减不可忽视。      

Optimal filtering in multipulse sequences for nuclear quadrupole resonance detection

The application of the multipulse sequences in nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) detection of explosive and narcotic substances has been studied. Various approaches to increase the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of signal detection are considered. We discussed two modifications of the phase-alternated multiple-pulse sequence (PAMS): the 180° pulse sequence with a preparatory pulse and the 90° pulse sequence. The advantages of optimal filtering to detect NQR in the case of the coherent steady-state precession have been analyzed. It has been shown that this technique is effective in filtering high-frequency and low-frequency noise and increasing the reliability of NQR detection. Our analysis also shows the PAMS with 180° pulses is more effective than PSL sequence from point of view of the application of optimal filtering procedure to the steady-state NQR signal.     

Self-Diffusion Measurements by Pulsed-Gradient Multiple-Spin-Echo Imaging

A new method is described which allows the spatial distribution of the self-diffusion coefficient over a sample to be determined in a single NMR imaging experiment. This technique combines NMR imaging principles with the pulsed-field-gradient multiple-spin-echo (PGMSE) method. Two basic forms of the pulse sequence for PGMSE imaging have been devised and image intensity as a function of the diffusion-gradient strength is given. The effects of the imaging gradients on the additional diffusion attenuation of image intensities are considered. Finally, the preliminary experimental verification of the PGMSE imaging technique is illustrated by measuring the diffusion coefficient for doped water using the version of the pulse sequence in which all of the 180° radiofrequency pulses are not slice-selective.